Musical instrument



(No Model.)

V A. P. VENEN.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

No. 473,981. x Patented May 3, 1892.

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ALBERT P. VENEN, OF SEATTLE, VASI'IINGTON.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,981, dated May 3,1892.

Application filed September 23, 1891. Serial No. 406,615. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT P. VENEN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Seattle, county of King, and State ofVashington, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in MusicalInstruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to wh ich it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of.reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, andin which similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

The object of my invention is to afford facilities for the player tocontrol at will the vibration of the head of a banjo or other stringedinstrument, thereby checkin g the resonance of the head, softening thenotes, and producing what may be termed for Want of a better distinctivedesignation the soft pedal effect upon a banjo; and to this end myinvention consists in pressing a damper to the under side of thebanjo-head immediately beneath or adjacent to the feet of the bridge. Iattain this object by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in Which Figure l is a bottom view of a banjo, showing myinvention; and Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken upon the dotted line x:c of Fig. l.

The head A, frame B, neck C, strings D, bridge E,and cross-bar Fconstitute the ordinary banjo.

To the bottom of the cross-bar F a plate or arm G, of any suitable formof construction, is firmly attached to furnish a pivot-seat H for alever I, that may be either straight or curved and extends from the rimof the frame B across the top of the cross-bar F. The i11- ncr end ofthis lever is provided with a slot K for receiving the head of a leverJ. The lever J is forked and passes on either side of the cross-bar F,to which it is attached by a rod a, passing through its arms, and thecrossbar F forming a pivotal point for the lever, which extends asuitable distance below said bar, where it terminates in a damper-pad L,which is preferably faced with felt or other suitable material and maybe of any desired length, but preferably of a length corresponding tothe length of the bridge E, so that the damper-pad may engage the headimmediately beneath both feet of the bridge.

The outer end of ,the lever I terminates in a slightly-elongated pad M,the under side of which rests upon the rim of the frame B,Which servesas a support for the movement of the end of the lever. The upper side ofthe pad M may be covered with plush or other suitable material forsecuring a slight degree of friction when brought into close contactwith the clothing of the player.

Any suitable material or form or style of ornamentation and nish ofparts maybe used to suit the varying styles and form of instrument, andmy device may be modified or adapted for application to other kinds ofinstruments, as I may see t,\vithout departing from the principle of myinvention.

I have shown and described my invention applied to a banjo having across-bar F; but Where this cross-bar is omitted in the originalconstruction of the banjo I may add the same or any equivalent device.

The operation of my device is as follows, to wit: The banjo is held inthe usual position for playing. IVhen the player desires soft notes, hepresses the banjo-frame to his body and slightly lowers the neck. Thepressure holds the pad M stationary, therebyoperating the lever I, whichin turn operates the lever J, thereby pressing the damper-pad L againstthe under side of the head of the banjo beneath the bridge. Thispressure lessens or stops to the desired degree the vibration of thehead and suspends the resonance produced by it, leaving clear softsounds produced by the strings. By raising the neck the pressure of thedamper is removed and the vibration and resonance are restored. Thevibration and resonance of the head are controlled by the amount ofpressure of the damper up to the point of suspension,so that the degreeof softness of the notes may be controlled by the movement of the neck.

Having thus described my device, What I claim as new and as of myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- l. A banjoprovided with an attachment whereby to soften the vibrations, consistingof a damper-pad adapted to be held against IOO the head of the banjo anda lever pivoted to the cross-bar and connected to the damper-pad at oneend and at its other end to a lever llaving a horizontal movement andextending to the rim of the banjo, substantially as described,wherebythe damper is operated and controlled by the movement of the horizontallever by the body of the player.

2. A damper attachment for a banjo, consisting of a lever pivoted to thecross-piece, havin?,` a damper-pad at one end and at its other endconnected to or in Contact with the end of a lever having a horizontalmovement and adapted to operate the lever provided with the damper-pad,said controlling-lever being pivoted to a suitable extension on thecross-piece and provided on its outer end with ALBERT P. VENEN.

Vitnesses:

RUSSELL V. Hovr, L. E. DILLER.

